Tyrone Giordano is the Director of Artistic Sign Language for Studio’s production of Tribes; he assisted with the challenges particular to producing a play that is in both English and American Sign Language. Giordano is a translator and an adjunct professor of deaf studies at Gallaudet University. As an actor, Giordano is best known for playing Huck in the Broadway, touring, LA, and Deaf West productions of Big River; he’s also made extensive film and television appearances. Assistant Director Elizabeth Dinkova spoke with Ty about his work on Tribes, the particularities of British vs. American Sign Language, and Studio’s success at integrating a Deaf perspective into the rehearsal process.
Elizabeth Dinkova: What does a DASL do?
Ty Giordano: The title of Director of Artistic Sign Language (DASL) is not entirely self-descriptive. DASLs are generally known for consulting on or translating written scripts into signed and/or gestural language for actors or interpreters. The DASL goes over a script or dramatic text and finds places or opportunities where sign language, gestural or visual language, and/or Deaf cultural elements could become part of a production's fabric. In a way, the DASL functions as a language- and culture-specific dramaturg, director, and designer. In theory, the scope of a DASL’s work can cover not only onstage elements in collaboration with the director, dramaturg, actors, and design team, but also deal with offstage concerns such as publicity, the press, marketing, and access services to ensure that sign language and Deaf cultural considerations are given the proper attention and respect. Fortunately for me, the groundwork laid by Studio’s partnership with Gallaudet University Theatre Arts and Fourth Wall Gone helped set the tone and expectations, allowing me to do my job before I officially came on board.
What did your work on this production involve?
I was commissioned to work with the actors playing Sylvia and Billy and also to consult directly with David Muse, the director of this production. Before I began work with Helen Cespedes (who plays Sylvia), she learned a little sign in New York City thanks to Alexandria Wailes, but what was most important was that she had the openness, curiosity, and desire to learn. She immersed herself for a week at Gallaudet University, meeting with several Theatre Arts students (arranged by Theatre Arts Program Chair Ethan Sinnott), working one-on-one with me on ASL, and basically navigating her way through the world of Gallaudet as a new signer, all of which she shared with me. We then sat down to work out the translations, where I would draw signs out of her based on her character work and choices for Sylvia, and we would fine-tune sign choices based on if they worked for her personally and whether they were expressed clearly enough and were appropriate sign choices for that moment or situation. I also helped her form her character palette by explaining cultural elements that went with the Deaf experience and beyond that. There were so many considerations that went into this process that it's hard to keep track of them all, but Helen was a terrific partner working with me in taking on everything I threw at her and making the work her very own.
Joey Caverly, who plays Billy, was the first person I thought of in relation to my duties in this production, since I knew that he would have had to fend for himself if there were no DASL involved. I knew that he would have to have someone there to be in his corner when he needed it. Working with Joey was an interesting challenge for me, as I had to ask him to do a kind of "unlearning" of ASL for the character, especially since Joey is quite fluent in ASL. Nina Raine's language for when Sylvia translates for Billy in the confrontational scene presented a very unique challenge. Since the script is written originally in English, I had to have Billy's signs align with the idea that if someone were to watch his ASL, they would conceivably be able to "back-translate" it into English that would "land" at the same places and in the same fashion as in the script.
Aside from work with Joey and Helen, I also worked with David, throwing some ideas and thoughts his way, stressing what I felt was important and clarifying some points, knowing that he, as the director, would make the final decisions. Joey often piped up with thoughts of his own, helping make my job easier. I went into this thinking that I would have Joey's back, and it's funny that it sometimes ended up with him backing me up.
You may not know that Studio’s Tribes has the distinction of having two DASLs attached to it, one hired directly by Studio for addressing the production elements and one hired by the interpreting agency commissioned by the Studio to provide the best possible access for Deaf audiences through a performance interpreting team. Some more adventurous collaborations between theatres and DASLs have included building interpreters into the design of the show rather than putting them into a designated spot in the audience.
What are your observations/reflections on working on the translation of lines into ASL; did the play being meant for performance in BSL inform your translations?
There are several versions of the Tribes script, and one of the older scripts (since the play originated in England) had Sylvia teaching Billy the BSL sign for "family" when they first meet. Sylvia explains that the sign's circular movement meant that everyone was equal, but a very astute Billy responds that it wasn't quite true, because one set of fingers was on top of the other in the British sign for the letter "F." I love that interaction and how cleverly it was rendered, and to my knowledge, because most productions of Tribes in America have chosen to render their signs into ASL, they've not incorporated anything BSL-related, which makes me sad.
Also, David Muse decided that he wanted to make the onstage sign in the play more accessible to local Deaf audiences, so he asked that the signed parts of the script be translated into ASL. I, as the DASL, personally wanted the actors to tackle the challenge of learning BSL for their roles as to give the play the authenticity it deserved, and any access services such as performance interpreting or captioning would make the onstage BSL accessible to audiences more familiar with ASL. This lofty vision would also have been personally challenging to me, as I have limited knowledge of BSL and would have had to consult with BSL users to render a faithful depiction of their language. Fortunately, this is easier to do in the age of the Internet, but because of the short timeframe in which to work the multi-layered complexities of the ASL and Deaf culture elements in the show, David's decision made sense to me.
How did your own acting experience and career in the theatre inform your work as a DASL?
To me, this is much like asking a director how their experience and career in the theatre as an actor informs their work. I know of no director who regretted being an actor before starting work as a director. It certainly helps to have knowledge from both sides of the wall, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do both.
Do you have any other interesting observations about the play or the process?
I really hope that the story of how Studio wanted to do Tribes in the best possible way gets told widely and serves as an example for other theatre companies to follow. David tells me that he wanted to have a Deaf actor play the part of Billy, which to me shouldn't be a question at all, but a given. It is disheartening to see that the part of Billy has been and continues to be played by hearing actors elsewhere, especially since so few opportunities exist for deaf artists to play any part, even those written as deaf. David's decision to make sure that the actor cast to play Billy was Deaf himself was the first step on what I am sure has been quite the learning experience for him, as it has been for me working with Studio. I can only hope David’s example emboldens others following to go even deeper next time an opportunity such as this presents itself.